What Was Said
I was at a festival called Cal-Jam, and one of your countrymen, April Wine, was playing. And I had gone there because I wanted to see UFO, because I dug Michael Schenker, and VAN HALEN was playing too. And everybody I was with was getting high, and I was really young and still very impressionable, so I went along for the ride with everyone else, and was in sort of la-la land, and the dude does this really great song, doing a harmonica solo and he throws the harp out into the audience, and I am standing there and I swear to God, it just plopped right into my hand. And I was like, ‘wow, is this my destiny to be a rock star?’ And that was it. That was the moment when the switch was turned on, and then not long after when I first heard AC/DC’s ‘Let There Be Rock’, that was the guitar record that blew my mind. — Dave Mustaine, Megadeth
> TORONTO: EMI Canada and newly signed Montreal electro-pop trio Take The Night have partnered with online music create site Indaba Music to offer fans the chance to remix the lead-single Take the Night. Two Grand Prize winners, one in English and one in French, will each receive $500, inclusion on an official EMI release—and a Take the Night T-shirt. Submissions deadline is Feb. 3 and fans have until Feb. 17 to vote with a March 2 announcement date for the winners. Contest details here.
> TORONTO: The nominees list for the 15th annual Canadian Radio Music Awards, celebrating first-time top charting Canadian artists across eight distinct categories, has been released with the winners to be announced during a gala luncheon at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in the city on Friday, March 23. Hosted by radio personality Jay “Mad Dog” Michaels, the CRMAs will feature performances by nominees Alyssa Reid, Dragonette, Fefe Dobson, Kira Isabella, Neverest, Raghav and The Sheepdogs. Alyssa Reid and Martin Solveig & Dragonette lead this year’s nominations with 5 nods apiece including SOCAN Song of the Year for their respective titles “Alone Again” and “Hello”. Other multiple nominations include: Kristina Maria (3), Neverest (2), Raghav (2), and Fefe Dobson (2).
This year’s music categories include: Mainstream AC, Hot AC, Rock, CHR, Dance/Urban/Rhythmic, and Country. Nominees comprise artists who have hit the Canadian charts for the first time and who have achieved top airplay in different formats based on radio “spins”, as recorded by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) in 2011. Votes cast by program directors, music directors, and on-air personalities determine the winners. Two additional non-voting awards will also be presented at this year’s ceremony: the FACTOR Breakthrough Award for top airplay for a new FACTOR supported artist; and the Chart Topper Award for top overall airplay.
The full list of nominees as follows…
ROCK
BLEEKER RIDGE – SMALL TOWN DEAD
JONAS & THE MASSIVE ATTRACTION – BIG SLICE
THE REASON – THE LONGEST HIGHWAY HOME
THE SHEEPDOGS – I DON’T KNOW
USS – N/A OK
CHR
ALYSSA REID – ALONE AGAIN
ANJULIE – BRAND NEW CHICK
MARTIN SOLVEIG & DRAGONETTE – HELLO
RAGHAV – FIRE
THESE KIDS WEAR CROWNS – JUMPSTART
DANCE/URBAN/RHYTHMIC
DEADMAU5 – SOFI NEEDS A LADDER
KRISTINA MARIA – LET’S PLAY
MARTIN SOLVEIG & DRAGONETTE – HELLO
MIA MARTINA – LATIN MOON
SUNLOVERZ FEAT. ROSETTE – FIRE
HOT AC
ALYSSA REID – ALONE AGAIN
KRISTINA MARIA – LET’S PLAY
MARTIN SOLVEIG & DRAGONETTE – HELLO
NEVEREST – ABOUT US
RAGHAV – FIRE
MAINSTREAM AC
ALYSSA REID – ALONE AGAIN
JESSE LABELLE – EASIER
JUSTIN NOZUKA – HEARTLESS
MARTIN SOLVEIG & DRAGONETTE – HELLO
NEVEREST – ABOUT US
COUNTRY
GOMIE – EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT
KIRA ISABELLA – LOVE ME LIKE THAT
MARLEE SCOTT – BEAUTIFUL MAYBE
RYAN LAIRD – I’M YOUR MAN
THE STELLAS – PERFECT
FANS CHOICE – Fans can vote online at www.cmw.net.
ALYSSA REID – ALONE AGAIN
FEFE DOBSON – STUTTERING
HEDLEY – INVINCIBLE
JRDN – LIKE MAGIC
SHAWN DESMAN – ELECTRIC
SOCAN SONG OF THE YEAR
ALONE AGAIN
Songwriters: Alyssa Reid / Jamie Appleby / Raynford Humphrey / Thomas Kelly / Billy Steinberg Recorded by: Alyssa Reid
HELLO
Songwriters: Martin Solveig / Martina Sorbara Recorded by: Martin Solveig & Dragonette
JET LAG
Songwriters: Pierre Bouvier / Chuck Comeau / Beatrice Martin / Ryan Petersen / Nolan SipeRecorded by: Simple Plan
LET’S PLAY
Songwriters: Kristina Maria / Negin Djafari / Kristian Lundin Recorded by: Kristina Maria
STUTTERING
Songwriters: Fefe Dobson / Claude Kelly / Michael Mentore / Jonathan Rotem Recorded by: Fefe Dobson
> Dublin software company Spanish Point has been contracted to design and develop a new musical rights and royalties distribution system for the Canadian Musical Reproduction Agency (CMRRA). The new system is to be rolled out in a series of phases and is scheduled for completion in Q3 of 2013. Spanish Point successfully built a similar system for the Irish Music Rights Org. (IMRO).
International
> DUBLIN: EMI Ireland is taking the Government to court over claims of feet dragging in introducing new anti-piracy laws. At the heart of the dispute are long-promised regulations which would allow copyright holders to compel internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to websites that they consider to be engaged in piracy. – Irish Times
> NEW YORK: Various credible news reports suggest YouTube is close to renewing licensing agreements with EMI, Sony and UMG. Apparently WMG has already signed off on an agreement that is believed to include greater anti-piracy protections and more cash.
Worth Reading
CES 2012: Here’s What The Music Biz Will Be Watching For
By Andrew Hampp and Glenn Peoples — The International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, long the go-to event for the tech and mobile industries, is increasingly becoming a magnet for music-based services and media companies.
The ‘CES Curse?’ Gadget Show Has Poor Record
By Peter Svensson — The largest trade show in the Americas must be a great place to show off new products, right? Wrong. The International Consumer Electronics Show is quickly becoming a launch pad for products that fall flat.
Forbes: Spotify’s Daniel Ek Is ‘Most Important Man in Music’
By Eliot Van Buskirk
Spotify Doesn’t Sound So Great to Some Artists
By Andy Fixmer — Big acts like Adele and Coldplay are withholding their music from streaming sites.
WARNING: All That Free Spotify Music You’ve Been Enjoying Is Going To End Soon
By Steve Kovach
Fans On Facebook: What To Do Next to Engage Your Fans, Increase Your Sales and Grow Your Relationship
By Carl Jacobson
Pandora Is Still “Growing at an Extraordinary Pace”, Mostly from “Word of Mouth”
By Radio-Info.com
Face The Music, Pandora Stock Isn’t Worth $10
By Trefis Team — Pandora is the leader in Internet radio and offers music that allows for a personalized experience for each listener based on their preferences and feedback. While Pandora continued its rapid user growth over the course of the year, competition has intensified from Spotify and Sirius XM Radio.
The Death of the Album Review?
By Glenn Peoples — Is the album review destined to decline in importance as the album format loses ground to songs and playlists? LA Weekly’s Ben Westhoff mentioned – almost in passing – that the alternative weekly has stopped printing album reviews and admits this might not be a big loss.
Kids Might Actually Care About Sound Quality
By Eliot Van Buskirk — A new study indicates that the kids’ ears are alright, in that they prefer the sound of lossless music to MP3s, and flat-response speakers to those that distort sound in favour of bass or other frequencies.
Will streaming replace owning music?
By Susan Krashinksy — How much would you pay to have the world’s best record collection? What if you didn’t actually own those albums, but could visit them online at any time? That’s the concept behind San Francisco-based Rdio Inc., an all-you-can-stream music service—sort of like Netflix for your ears—founded by the folks who created Skype.
